8 Kinds of Bird Eggs You Can Eat

Eggs are one of the most nutritious foods in the world. They contain proteins, vitamins, and fats that we need to stay healthy. We most commonly think of chicken eggs as being edible and it is the main egg we eat in our diet. However, there are many other types of edible bird eggs with varying nutrition and taste.

Chicken Eggs

Chicken eggs are the most common type of egg that we eat. They are fairly mild as far as taste goes and they have many vitamins and nutrients. Store bought chicken eggs are typically white, but chicken eggs have various different colored shells, such as brown or green, depending on the breed of chicken.

Duck Eggs

Duck eggs are very similar to chicken eggs, with a slightly larger yolk. The taste is more rich and smooth and contains more fat and protein than a chicken egg. Duck eggs have a thicker shell that allows them to stay fresh for a longer amount of time.

Turkey Eggs

Turkey eggs are similar to duck eggs in size and taste. The egg has a thicker yolk and egg white, giving it a creamier taste and consistency. Some people prefer turkey eggs for cooking pastries because of the richer flavor. Turkey eggs are hard to find in stores because most farmers get more value from raising the bird rather than selling the egg.

Goose Eggs

Goose eggs are about double in size to a chicken egg. They also have a heavier, more dense taste with greater protein content. The shells are thick and take more force to crack open. Goose eggs are much rarer than chicken or duck eggs because geese only lay about 40 eggs a year.

Quail Eggs

These eggs are tiny and delicate, with a flavor to match. The taste of a quail egg is lighter than most eggs and its nutritional contents are similar to those of chicken eggs. However, you would need to eat multiple quail eggs to match the same nutrition as a chicken egg. These tiny eggs are considered a delicacy in many countries and have even been used in healing remedies.

Pheasant Eggs

Pheasant eggs are similar in size to a duck egg, making them slightly larger than a chicken. The taste is light and less rich, like a quail egg. However, they have a more gamey taste because it is a more gamey bird.

Ostrich Eggs

Weighing in at around 3 lbs, this is the largest of bird eggs. This is 20 times greater than a chicken egg! The shells have a creamy color and are extremely thick and hard to crack. If you do manage to get one open, you’ll find that each egg is packed with 2,000 calories. However, it has similar nutrients and runny yolk of a chicken egg.

Emu Eggs

Emu eggs weigh in less than an ostrich egg at about 2 lbs. These eggs have a dark shell that is usually black in color and speckled with a deep green. Emu eggs are one of the richest tasting eggs. The yolk is like silly putty and the egg white is like glue. When you cut into it, nothing will ooze out.

We’ve all tasted chicken eggs, but there are so many other kinds of eggs out there that vary in size, taste and look. Eggs have many important nutrients that are essential for our health. Mix it up from time to time with a different egg for an entirely renewed egg experience.

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35 thoughts on “8 Kinds of Bird Eggs You Can Eat”

You wrote: "Unlike store bought chicken eggs, fresh chicken eggs will have different colored shells, such as brown, and green."

This is misleading. Egg shells vary due to breed of chicken, and have nothing to do with whether the egg is fresh or not. Also, store-bought vs roadside-stand-bought eggs can have the same freshness issues. However, store-bought are more likely to be refrigerated, which extends freshness significantly.

Other things to note: Chicken egg taste and consistancy varies greatly based upon what the bird eats. Cage-raised chickens have a controlled diet, and will have a consistant taste and texture from egg to egg. A free range chicken (walking around the yard) will eat everything from the cracked corn and other grains provided by the farmer to insects, grubs, and worms that they find. The taste will vary from egg to egg, but generally will have a stronger flavor.

Tom O. is right about shell color - depends on the breed of chicken. The yolk of most free range chickens is orange, not yellow, with a richer flavor. I've been told that it generally indicates the bird is getting better nutrition (bugs are good chicken food). A school teacher friend of mine says she can tell which children eat free-range eggs by which crayon they use to color pictures of egg yolks.

Guineafowl is what many neighbors had in southeast Illinois and Southwest indiana. We had chicken but they liked guineafowl better because they ate the ticks better and predators apparently didn't mess with them or couldn't catch them. I do not rememebr eating eggs but apparently they did as well as my grandparents. Said they are richer but taste good. We talked about getting them at our woods and garden because of the ticks. Our deer have their ears covered. I made a comment about the dogs that run up there and my grandfather made the comment the dogs wouldn't bother them because they couldn't get close enough to them. I am still looking into it so I know more.

I have to say I agree completely with Tom Ozminkowski. I have had many many breeds of chickens over the years, as well as several ducks, geese and turkeys. I used to raise Emus. They all have their up and down sides to using the eggs. But, chicken eggs, being the most commonly used, are most familiar. I have noticed differences in flavors of the eggs just going from season to season. Because the things the chickens eat are differing.. different weeds, bugs, etc. Want to make your chicken eggs more rich in Omega-3's? Just add a lot of flax seed to their diets. That's how the farms selling those expensive ones do it.. It's a matter of the feed.

Education is never wasted! On that note, in case you or someone you know were to ever get chickens of your own, or if anyone else on this blog were to, it would be good to know. I am a big proponent of knowing where my food is from, and WHY it has the characteristics it does. I am able to make more informed decisions about what I eat that way.

My 2 cents worth - Everyone should be concerned with the eggs they eat - "what the chickens eat - is what you eat."

Are they fed GMO grains - corn, soy, etc. or are they from farms where they try to feed their chickens healthier grains or allow the chickens to eat what they would normally eat by pecking around - insects, etc.

I try for the last because I want the chickens and therefore the eggs to be healthier for me. And yes, I can tell the difference.

I get duck eggs from a farmers market. They are creamy and delicious. The egg white is a little rubbery if cooked well done but if not well done it gets runny spots. The yolk stays very round as if over stuffed and not sprawled like chicken egg. I prefer to hard boil for 15 minutes so the yolk is creamy consistency. They cost about 10 bucks a dozen which is expensive but worth it especially if you use them in brownies or cake. I get less hungry when I eat them. If I eat one per meal I can make it all day with a total of 3 eggs and 3 slices of bread. Maybe it's psychological. I love them.

How unpatriotic, Bob. I thought preppers were responsible, knowledgeable, mature and conscientious of resources. Keep the trolling to yahoo comments. But, to stay on topic, all eggs taste primarily like eggs. I imagine Eagle eggs don't taste like freedom. On the contrary, it's a year in prison and 100K fine.

Awe, you're a good egg Bob. Staying on topic, I tried the 100 yr. old eggs at a Chinese market. It was dark and they served it on a porridge. It had a spicy flavor due to the sauce it was fermented in. It just tasted like a pickled egg but less salty.

Sadly, this country is fast becoming humorless, with any comment being studied to find any possible insult and promptly attacked. Trust me , any person with even half a brain realized you were joking, but there will always be someone who feels some need to pretend they took any comment as serious.

First of all, he can apologize for making a joke all he wants. Second of all, so what if this country becoming humorless? It's not sad to me because there are many people who humor as an excuse to antagonize.

No, f*** you for disrespecting those who can't take a joke! That "It's a joke" excuse is something that bullies use to harass innocent people.

How would you like it someone made one or more bad jokes about your relatives to their faces? If nobody can take a joke, leave him or her alone. You can't force anyone to take a joke if he or she doesn't want to.

The eggs of ALL non-game birds are illegal to take. Eagles and some hawks are protected not only by category but by specific species. In some states game bird eggs, like pheasant, are protected in the wild. You have to get eggs from a farm w a permit. TMI? Some people still think raptors are fair game

A bird egg is a bird egg. In a survival situation, as long as you are sure it is a bird egg, and fresh, it can be cooked and eaten. As has been noted, some birds and their eggs are protected by silly laws made by silly"law makers". So, when telling your story of your survival adventure, best not admit to using any eggs.

Eggs can be eaten raw, Japanese do so often, but in the wild I think that could be unwise, but just my personal opinion.

As D said, bird eggs of any kind are generally safe to eat. There are some birds native to Africa that are poisonous and their eggs shouldn't be eaten, so if you happen to be over on that continent you may want to be a little more wary :)

We used to raise ostriches. Our silly girls would lay eggs in the winter but much fewer so it wasn't cost effective to incubate and hatch them. So, we ate them. One egg was approximately the same as a dozen large chicken eggs. We would use one to make a Spanish tortilla with potatoes or a Persian kuku (similar to the potato tortilla but with a variety of greens). It had a lighter texture in these dishes than the chicken eggs and were just as tasty.

No one mentioned dove eggs. My wife has a dove cote and I gather dove eggs to keep the population down and they make a fair omlet but it takes a few. Not bad. Little different taste than chicken eggs but o.k.

I have a pet Turkey and she lays about 5 eggs a week during the summer, not so much during this winter. Sometimes she is OK with me rubbing her knobby head and other times not so much, but her eggs are great to eat. My only problem is I have one pet Turkey and my friends that I give eggs away to keep asking for more turkey eggs. I wish I had a dozen or more just for egg laying. Dennis

My personal favorite egg to eat is guinea. I find them very tasty. Also good to cook with. When my husband was young, they lived on the river and he and his brothers would search out turtle eggs to eat. Our Christmas morning omelet last year had scrambled chicken, duck, turkey, guinea and goose eggs all mixed together. Delicious. BT

Grew up on a turkey farm, ate turkey eggs all the time, longed for other foods frequently but got eggs instead. Now many years later, sure would like to be able to get them in mass quantities like I could back then

Grew up on a turkey farm, ate turkey eggs all the time, longed for other foods frequently but got eggs instead. Now many years later, sure would like to be able to get them in mass quantities like I could back then

had chickens for close to 40 years. no comparison between store bought and free range. i can tell the difference just by looking at the raw egg. Some folks would have a little trouble eating free range eggs if they seen what all a chicken will eat. :) Had geese several years. Better eating than turkey at thanksgiving. Their eggs are very good to eat also. Geese are hard on your lawns though if u let them freerange. Also throw a couple eggs in when whipping your mashed potatoes. Will make them a whole lot better. Try it.

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